


The Sea Brought Us Home

by FiresFromOurHearts



Series: Uncharted Waters [16]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Families of Choice, Gen, Love, Platonic Soulmates, Queerplatonic Relationships, ROOT (Naruto) - Freeform, ROOT ANBU, Rebuilt Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, Reincarnation, Soulmates, Team as Family, The Fall Of Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, Uzushiogakure | Hidden Eddy Village, they just love each other, what am I meant to do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:13:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29917428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: In one world, there are no soulmates. In one world, Toru is reborn and is the only one. In one world, Uzushio rises. In this world, there are soulmates. In this world, Toru isn't reborn alone. In this world, Uzushio rises.More changes then you'd think, but at the same time, there isn't much change at all - and soulmates matter less than you think.
Relationships: Original Character(s) & Original Character(s) & Original Character(s) & Original Character(s), Uchiha Sasuke & Original Character(s), Uzumaki Naruto & Original Character(s), Uzumaki Naruto & Uchiha Sasuke & Original Character(s)
Series: Uncharted Waters [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875832
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	The Sea Brought Us Home

In one world, this is what happens: Uzushio’s Uzukage dies, Uzushio scatters, and the fractured pieces of a team spiral apart and die alone.

In another world, there is this: Uzushio’s Uzukage dies, Uzushio scatters, and the fractured pieces of a team die on Hi no Kuni’s shores, defending their people with their final breaths.

_(In one world, there is this: soulmates don’t exist except in metaphors.)_

_(In one world, there is this: soulmates are written into your skin.)_

* * *

There are no rigid rules around soulmates—and those that seem rigid are often the first ones to give way. Once upon a time, people believed that soulmates were only found when you spoke to each other and the words formed on your skin. However, this proved false in time. Nowadays, people know that soulmates can be instantaneous connections or ones that form over years. Sometimes you already have words scrawled across your skin and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes the marks fade as time passes and you lose that relationship, sometimes they remain as you remain close with your soulmate.

In the end, there are only a few certainties surrounding soulmates. It’s known that everyone can have a soulmate. It’s known that soulmates can be any close relationship. It’s known that people’s words form on your skin.

_(Soulmates are choices. Soulmates are a given. Soulmates change. This, in the end, is not where two worlds differ. This is where they remain the same.)_

* * *

Before he remembers, _(before he is truly Toru)_ , he gazes in awe at the words scrawled across his skin. Toru’s case is rare—few people are born with soulmate marks already adorning their skin. The Uchiha, romantics that they are, claim that these are your fated partners and those who will always stand beside you.

_(Though he doesn’t remember just yet, Uzushio said that those born with soulmate marks had met their soulmates already, just in another life. This is truer than anyone could have expected—in this case, at least.)_

When he is born, Toru has three soulmate marks: ‘Oh, it’s you’; ‘Nice to meet you’; and ‘We’re listening’. They could all mean so many different things, but in the end they only matter for one reason: they mean Toru is loved.

As Toru grows up, he gains a new mark after meeting Shisui: ‘I’m your cousin!’ It is one of Toru’s favourite soulmate marks, simply because he knows who it came from and who it belongs to, _(he left his own mark in turn: ‘You’re fast’)_.

_(Here is what people don’t speak about often: sometimes soulmates die. The marks occasionally stay and sometimes they don’t. No one seems to know why they fade or why they don’t. Maybe some people cherish the memory of their soulmate closer, maybe some people are willing to let the past be, maybe people are just different.)_

When Shisui dies, the soulmate mark on Toru’s skin vanishes. That doesn’t matter, not to Toru. Why should it? He still remembers Shisui, grieves for him as best he can, and continues living, _(and he will never forget Shisui, will always love him, they are still soulmates whether they had the marks or not)_.

_(And here is what Toru dreams about: a hand on his shoulder, someone bowing, a grin crossing a person’s face in surprise. He doesn’t know where these memories come from. He clings to them, but they vanish from his fingers when he wakes, leaving only contentment and longing in their wake.)_

There is almost no time to mourn Shisui, not properly, as shortly Toru finds himself one of two survivors of the Uchiha Clan. He doesn’t get a soulmate mark from Sasuke, but that doesn’t matter. They are family by blood and by choice, _(being soulmates doesn’t matter; soulmates do not matter, not really)_.

And so life goes on. Toru grows and lives and smiles and laughs. He lives, as Toru Uchiha, and never once stops living.

* * *

_(Once there was a boy who stood in Uzushio and said the sea never died.)_

_(Once there was a boy who stood in Uzushio and said what if we were better?)_

_(Once there was a boy who stood in Uzushio and died in Uzushio.)_

_(This has never been a story about a boy.)_

* * *

When Toru remembers it’s after he awakes from a nightmare. In one world, he will feel the blade twist in his chest and fight to breathe in the night air. In this world, it is exactly the same. He feels the blade twist in his chest and comes to, choking and fighting and remembering every aspect of his death.

It is not until later, when he has had time to calm down, that he remembers the soulmate marks he once had. Over the years, he had had a few. A normal amount. Before Uzushio’s fall—his fall—he had had three that he’d cherished, _(three left of the four he’d had only weeks before)_.

_(When Toru Mizushima dies, he will not know that his team can sense his death and the marks disappear from their skins. He will not know they will break and fracture, and grab the jagged shards and refuse to give in. He might have guessed it if he thought about it, but he will not try to. Likewise, he will not know they die protecting his people in the hours following Uzushio’s fall and his own death.)_

This is when he will notice that the marks on his skin are the same, carried across from one life to the next. He will wonder what it means. For a single heartbeat, he will hope, breathless, that his team came with him into another life. Then, he will realise—such a thing is impossible, _(he will not stop to think about all the impossible things he has done)_. He will think these are only things leftover from a past life; marks left behind when his soulmates died and he didn’t stay dead.

So Toru will continue to live. He will be a genin and become a chūnin and be scouted by the ANBU. He will reach out a hand and tell people they matter. In a world without soulmates, he will do all these things. In this world, he does the same.

_(The changes don’t start here. No, they started much earlier.)_

* * *

Dai is born running. She is born with a war at her heels. She is born to refugees. She is born with soulmate marks. She will gain more, over time, but it is these three that she will cherish the most, _(these are people she has met before, in another life, or so her parents say; Dai isn’t quite sure what to make of it)_.

For a long time, Dai is _only_ Dai. She is nothing more, nothing less. She is a refugee and someone who could’ve been Uzushio’s. This is how Dai grows: as she would have in any other world. She is Dai.

She is Dai and then she is not. She is Dai and then she is _more_. She is Dai and then she remembers being someone else. She is Dai because she has always been Dai, but they called her Saya once.

She’d been an Uzumaki, once.

She’d been an Uzushio-nin, once.

_(She’d been Toru’s, once.)_

Dai—Saya—died. It was a long time ago, shortly before Dai’s birth. Only now, decades later, does Dai remember without a reason. There’s no cause for it. No explanation. Uzushio is dead, a village left to be forgotten and mourned by her scattered people. Dai’s team are long dead, _(and even if they did live still, it’d be impossible to find them; Dai knows a thing or two about impossible things)_.

Still, she looks at her soulmate marks, the ones she was born with. She knows these words, had heard them a lifetime ago. She laughs, _(she cries)_ , and thinks how true it is that soulmate marks follow you through lifetimes. It’s a pity that your soulmates do not.

In the end, Dai is more than Saya too. She is a new person and she has a new life and she will not fall to the grief that clings to her. She will live on, for her teammates and for her family, because they would want her too. Besides, she’s not alone. She has family still, even if they’re different to who they’d once been, and you can never have enough family.

_(Here is what Dai does not know: she remembered because someone else remembered and Uzushio is on the horizon, waiting, but her chakra is spread across the world. None of them are ever alone.)_

* * *

In ROOT, you have no name. In ROOT, you have no identity. In ROOT, you are no thing but a weapon.

_(In one world, Danzō steals two children from Uzushio, spiriting them away as the village fell. In another world, he finds a refugee group and steals two children from them, leaving only bodies in his wake.)_

In ROOT, soulmate marks don’t matter. Why should they? So long as ROOT-nins don’t get the chance to form dies, any soulmate marks that appear will shortly vanish. On the occasion that they remain, Danzō will simply deal with the problem, _(whether it involves separating his weapons or sharpening one by removing the other, it depends on the situation)_. Of course, those born with soulmate marks are much harder to deal with. But easily ignored.

It doesn’t matter if you have a soulmate mark or not in ROOT. Nothing matters in ROOT except the mission.

_(In one world, where there are no soulmates and no people reincarnated but Toru, this would be the end of it. However, this is not that world. This is a different world entirely. In this world, one person remembers and so does another and then so do two more, but they are in ROOT where they cannot be the people they undeniable are.)_

Here is what happens in every world: Danzō makes a mistake, Danzō gets greedy, those underestimated are always stronger than expected.

Perhaps a ROOT-nin is only a ninja of ROOT, a weapon for Danzō, but perhaps a ROOT-nin can be more and can be greater. Perhaps a ROOT-nin could have been an Uzushio-nin once.

In ROOT where people are kept apart, _(because they cannot be seen as people)_ , two ROOT-nins never meet. However, they are connected in more ways than one, _(there are marks on their skin that declare them soulmates, there is a history shared that makes them understand each other, there is a team that once was that they still cherish)_.

One person will flee further into Konoha, hiding and watching and remaining wary because ROOT should not be, _(it never should have existed, but she must know what the details of ROOT are before she makes a decision; she must find allies and learn how deep the rot goes in Konoha)_.

Another person will step into Konoha, but only because ROOT should not be and they cannot take Danzō down alone.

_(In one world, Toru almost dies due to Danzō’s orders. In one world, Toru dreams and dies and somehow lives. In this world, Toru is a chūnin and remembers and holds the hands of Sasuke and Naruto but never forgets to look for Uzushio on the horizon.)_

_(In this world, Toru is the same. In this world, ROOT’s demise comes earlier than expected. It is, once again, because of Toru—for more reasons than one.)_

* * *

What could happen: a ROOT-nin meets another ROOT-nin and they fight to protect themselves, never realising that the other is like them. What could happen: a ROOT-nin finds a ROOT-nin and they join together and fight against ROOT and fall with only each other. What could happen: ROOT-nin and ROOT-nin collide and Danzō learns of them defying his orders, and orders his assassins and neither ROOT-nin survives.

What this forgets: Uzushio. What this forgets: the sea never dies. What this forgets: Toru.

_(There are so many unhappy stories. So many endings full of grief and hurt. This has never promised to be anything but a story of hope and love and one with a happy ending.)_

Uzushio might be far away, a distant village of ruins and ghosts on the horizon, but Toru is Uzushio’s in every way possible. When Uzushio calls to him on the sea wind, _(that makes no sense because there’s no sea nearby)_ , about something _in_ Konoha, Toru heeds Uzushio’s call, _(he always will)_.

Threading his way through the streets, Toru ends up bumping into a ninja hiding in the shadows. For a heartbeat, all Toru sees is Mari, _(an unfamiliar face, but there are mannerisms there that seem familiar, and he doesn’t know how, but this feels like Mari; one of his lost ANBU, one of his teammates)_.

“Hi,” Toru says, stepping back, _(looking away because this can’t be Mari, Mari is dead and buried and Toru is alone)_. He surveys the ninja, takes note of the way they look panicked and nervous, like they’re jumping at their own shadow. “Are you okay?”

“Oh,” the ninja says, like she’s been punched in the stomach and has become winded, “it’s you.”

Toru’s heart skips a beat. Wide eyed, he looks at this ninja who-

“Mari?” He asks, frame trembling, (because he’s been alone and there are people who can help but no one knows that he carries Uzushio’s grief on his shoulders and Toru misses his teammates with all his heart; they had been his family and he’d never known whether they still lived or if they’d died).

“Yes,” Mari breathes out, (does she have another name here? Toru can’t wait to find out), “How are you here? I thought I was…” She trails off, but Toru can easily fill in the gap. Like him, Mari had thought she was alone.

“Yeah,” Toru agrees, swallowing. His voice sounds rough now and he doesn’t know how he’s still standing. “It was Uzushio. But you didn’t die in Uzushio so—how?”

(He doesn’t know whether he wants to ask how she died, if the others came with her, he wants to know but he doesn’t know if he really wants to know.)

“Uzushio,” Mari answers. “The village reached out when I died and gave me a choice. I thought—if I could continue helping our people, I would. But I never remembered, not until recently. As in, a few hours ago.”

Toru’s known for a while now, but maybe this is Uzushio at work. Toru remembered Uzushio because of the nightmares that plagued him, (because he was taken and tortured and had no way of escaping until he broke and remembered and pulled himself back together; a Kage and an ANBU Commander and Uzushio’s), but maybe Uzushio was going to remind him later. When he was ready.

When they were ready—because he’s not alone. Not anymore, (not ever again).

“What happened?” Toru asks because his teammate, (and they are teammates, maybe it was from a lifetime ago and maybe they died, but the ties still bind them), looks worried and fretful, (and Toru would burn the world down to see his people safe).

“There’s an army beneath Konoha’s feet,” Mari says, “of stolen children and forbidden orders. It’s run by Danzō.”

Toru pauses. Swallowing, he thinks about it. He thinks about children gone missing, about the Uchiha Clan’s massacre and how wrong it all seemed, about so many little things that are being added up to a bigger picture that pointed something was wrong in Konoha.

(Toru’s whispered to Sasuke that not everything was right in Konoha, that something was wrong, that there was something to be wary of in the shadows.)

“Alright,” Toru says simply. “What can you tell me about it? Any details? Locations?”

“All the ROOT-nins have seals. I managed to deal with mine, but there should be a master seal that we can interfere with rather than dealing with all the seals individually. As for their base, it’s underground. I know where some of the entrances are, but a few are well trafficked and the other are guarded well.”

Toru shrugs. “We’ll deal with that when we ge-” He cuts himself off, head snapping sideways, as something in his bones trembles and tells him to move.

A hand sign has his teammate leaping up beside him as they race across the rooftops. It’s night time, the moon a dim glow above them, and it feels dead. Nearby, a ninja races perpendicular to them, (and Uzushio laughs in Toru’s veins; her chakra isn’t nearby but he can feel it bubbling beneath his feet regardless). He slams into the other ninja, not quite tackling them off the roof, but they tumble and fall.

For a second, the other ninja tenses, goes to fight, but then a laugh escapes them and they fall pliant to Toru. Without seeing their face, Toru just knows this is Kanko, his second in command and his teammate and soulmate and everything from his past life.

“Nice to meet you,” his soulmate says teasingly, and Toru laughs, burying his head in Kanko’s shoulder, (and Kanko must have another name too, and Toru will ask soon but first he’s just going to bask in the presence of two of his teammates).

The words, well remembered, exit his mouth easily, the second-half of a soulmate mark. “We’re going to be a team from now on. It’s going to be good working alongside you.”

Toru doesn’t know if soulmate marks carry over from remembered lifetimes or if they were always destined to say the same words. It doesn’t matter. In the end, he is here and so are two of his teammates.

“You were late,” Mari says, as she extends a hand to both of them and helps them up. Then she’s tugging Kanko into a hug of her own, “Fuck, I’ve missed you. Did you just remember too?”

“Yes,” Kanko says. “Thankfully I was just at the ROOT base rather than on a mission, I-”

“You’re in ROOT too?” Mari asks. “What are the odds?” She laughs, something angry and grieving and hurting, (children stolen; they could have had families, but instead they were forced to become soldiers once again).

Toru glances at both of them, sees how they are both Uzushio in appearance. “Danzō likely stole you when our people were fleeing,” he says. “It fits what he does, stealing children off the streets, or from refugee groups as the case might be. Kanko, we’re going to take Danzō and ROOT down. Are you in?”

“Of course,” Kanko says with a firm nod. “Also—Souma. That’s my name, now.”

(It’s a name he earnt from ROOT, a name they stole from him. But Kanko—Souma—refuses to let it be something ROOT takes from him. He’ll take the name and make it his.)

“Do you think Saya is around too?” It’s Souma who asks, but Mari looks hopeful too.

The chances of all of them coming back is probably impossible. The fact that there’s more than one of them is impossible. But they’ve always been together and so Toru has to trust that Uzushio has brought them all back. “Yes,” he says. Then, tilting his head, he adds, “But I don’t think she’s in Konoha.”

“That’d be too much power in one spot,” Mari says, an amused grin playing at her lips. “We’ll find her though.”

“Or she’ll find us,” Souma offers. Straightening, he looks at Toru, “What are your orders, Taichō?”

The title is a reminder, a claim, and something more all at once. Toru grins, teeth bared. “We’re going to take down ROOT,” he says, nothing but confidence backing up his words. After all, both Souma and Mari know ROOT and Danzō certainly won’t be expecting them.

There’s much going unsaid. Toru hasn’t mentioned Uzushio, won’t just yet, or what their plans are beyond ROOT’s fall. What comes will come and they will tackle it after. First, they must make it through this alive, (there is no other option).

Mari grins, blood-thirsty and angry. “We follow you,” she says, eyes gleaming.

(They are three-quarters of a team that held up an invasion fleet. They are three-quarters of a team that were some of the best in Uzushio. They are three-quarters of a family, grieving and angry and with a target. Danzō, and ROOT, will fall. They always do, this time it’s just a little bit faster.)

* * *

This is what happens: they invade ROOT and deal with the master seal. This is what happens: they find Danzō and fight until he dies. This is what happens: they find folders and one is labelled Uzushio and one is labelled Uchiha and they all grieve.

What will happen: Hiruzen will mourn his once-friend once-teammate in private. What will happen: Hiruzen will not hide Danzō’s actions and everyone will know what happened. What will happen: the ROOT-nins will live to see the next day, and the one after that, and the one after that.

What will not happen: Konoha learns how Danzō and ROOT fell. What will not happen: Toru runs to Uzushio with two-thirds of his team at his back. What will not happen: Uzushio will rise straight away.

* * *

“I think I want a different name,” Mari says as she follows Toru to his home, Souma walking alongside her.

(She doesn’t say that she’d been thinking of a name for a while, even in ROOT where names and identities had been forbidden. It’s true, but it doesn’t matter.)

“Any ideas so far?” Souma asks, voice gentle, and he would understand. There’s a connection between them, one made by living through similar experiences. They alone know what it means to be ROOT, what it means to be made a tool, what it means to be made almost a slave by a seal.

Humming, Mari considers it. “I like the name Sora,” she says at last, (and there’s another name for her to claim—Asano, because Danzō had stolen her from her people and had brought about Uzushio’s fall and there’s so much to blame here, but he is dead and she is not).

“Then Sora it is,” Toru says and sometimes it really is as easy as that.

After turning, he leads them into an apartment building. He’d spoken briefly of his current life—he’s an Uchiha, one of two survivors, and looks after two kids, (and they are what keeps him from Uzushio, but they do not mind; it is Toru, after all).

(In one world, Toru makes this walk alone. In one world, Toru feels alone. In one world, people know of what he did to ROOT and how he brought about ROOT’s fall. In this world, none of that is known. In this world, he is not alone. In this world, he makes a different choice.)

When they enter, Sasuke and Naruto are by the door in seconds, surrounding Toru. Sora and Souma hover in the doorway, uncertain and unsure because this is Toru’s new family, (that they are now a part of, because Toru will never leave them alone).

“Who are they?” Sasuke asks bluntly, eyes narrowed and focussed on the two in the doorway.

And, watching him, Toru knows a choice stands in front of him. It’s an easy choice, though. “I’ve got some things to say,” Toru says, “to both of you. These guys are involved.”

Sasuke scowls, but nods, and sits back up on the couch, Naruto beside him. Then, he listens to a story that Toru weaves. It’s about a village by the sea, about a village invaded, about a village that falls. It’s about a team that’s family, about an Uzukage dying, about teammates dying alone. But it’s also about hope, about love, about rebirth.

“You’re my family,” Toru says, at last. “Both of you. I don’t want to leave you, and I won’t until you’re genins, but Uzushio needs me too. My people need me.”

Sasuke reaches out. “You’re my brother,” he says, serious and knowing exactly what his words mean. “And you’ll come back, right? And I can visit. And…” He trails off, frowning, thoughtful. “And,” he continues slightly slower, “is it possible that I can just… come?” Sasuke frowns, looking frustrated with himself.

“You’re home,” Naruto says simply with a swallow. “Not Konoha or this apartment or anything. But you.”

Toru hadn’t even thought that they might want to come with him. It hadn’t even been a thought that’d crossed his mind. But there’s nothing stopping Sasuke or Naruto from coming with him. Konoha might object, but Konoha failed Uzushio, (and Konoha cannot stop them, not really, especially when Konoha doesn’t know).

He breathes out, steady and calm, and two of his teammates behind him. “Alright,” he says at last. He doesn’t warn them against coming, doesn’t try to convince them otherwise. “We go together. All of us.”

(Here is what he doesn’t notice in this moment: two new soulmate marks. One says ‘You’re my brother’ and the other says ‘You’re home’. Here is what doesn’t matter: the new soulmate marks. In the end, it is their choices that matter more so than their soulmate marks. They’d already chosen each other, already decided they were soulmates, even before the marks existed.)

* * *

Konoha loses the two last Uchihas without warning and the Kyūbi jinchūriki disappears with them. Konoha searches and searches and searches and they are never found. Not for a very long time.

* * *

They run. The kids complain but are willing to be carried as the others run at full speed, (they are not as they could be or as they once had been, but they will be better and stronger in time—time that they have).

It’s on their way, just when they reach Hi no Kuni’s shore, that someone is waiting for them. Toru pauses, eyes narrowed, ready to attack at the first sign of danger. It’s Souma who takes the first move, stepping forward, “Don’t suppose you’re Saya?”

The ninja laughs. “I am!” She says. “It’s good to meet you. The name’s Dai though. This time, at least.” Then, her gaze moves to Sora, and she smiles. “It’s good to see all of you.”

Toru doesn’t hesitate any longer, just lunges forward. Sasuke and Naruto are both on the ground this time round, taking a break from being carried as they’d complained about it enough. He slams into Saya—Dai—alone, and they fall into the ocean, water splashing up around them and soaking them.

“You’re here,” he says, heart in his throat.

Dai secures her arms around him, tugging him closer. “We’re listening,” she says.

Laughing, Toru squeezes his arms around her once more, before he stands up. He pulls her up afterwards. “The name’s still Toru,” he tells her. “But Kanko is Souma and Mari is Sora.” He glances over at Naruto and Sasuke. “Those are my brothers,” he says, “Naruto’s the blond and Sasuke’s the other one. We may or may not be on the run from Konoha.”

Shaking her head, Dai laughs once again. “Got to keep everyone on their toes,” she says. “Are we ready?”

Toru looks across to where Uzu no Kuni rests on the horizon, a dark blur. He remembers the smoke that had engulfed the islands, the explosions that had echoed in Uzushio, the blood that had filled the streets.

He remembers laughing with his teammates, remembers the comfort of the loud morning markets, remembers his people alive and happy.

“Yes,” he says.

* * *

(Once there was a boy who died in Uzushio and lived again.)

(Once there was a boy who called Uzushio back and saw his village rise.)

(Once there was a boy born again with three soulmate marks.)

(This has never been a story about him.)

* * *

In one world, this is what happens: Uzushio’s Uzukage dies, Uzushio’s Uzukage lives, Uzushio rebuilds.

In another world, there is this: Uzushio’s Uzukage dies, Uzushio’s Uzukage lives, Uzushio rebuilds.

(The difference is not that soulmates exist. The difference is how they died first. The difference is how they were born again. The difference is that they remembered together.)

(Here is how it always ends: happily, with family, with love, with Uzushio. The village will find her allies, will fight in wars, will never fall again. Konoha will not go to war against Uzushio, will not be able to withstand doing so. The Akatsuki will fight and the Akatsuki will lose.)

(Here is how it always ends: Toru has his team and has his brothers and has family. Toru is happy and so are his people and his family are happy too. Uzushio will stand, strong and proud, and see the world fall into peace.)

(Here is what I mean by the end: they are happy and the world is peaceful and they will live their lives in chaos and laughter and love. They will live and they will smile. What more could they want?)

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> Soulmates are such an interesting trope and one I frequently have problems with and, despite this, I have somehow ended up writing them a few times. It's more to do with specific tropes and questions surrounding those tropes that I struggle with - and it's more that I would need to think heaps to answer those questions. Then, of course, my real dilemma comes down to the idea of soulmates being this destined principle, I guess. Yes, the idea of having someone destined to be in your life is all nice and good - but what about the choices you make and the people you find? Are they then more or less important? And why should they be less or more important? It should have the same gravitas in my mind. Which is, of course, why so many of the soulmate things I write do come back to this underlying idea of choices and choosing. It's never the soulmate connection that matters, but the choice to pursue a relationship regardless of it. Because, in the end, I would argue that soulmates are perhaps the least important thing in the world - if they are given to us, that is. If we choose them, and I'd argue that we do in fact choose them, that they exist in our world as it currently stands, is that not better? Soulmates aren't finding someone you click with instantly, but it's the people you return to after days or weeks of silence and feel like nothing's changed. It's the people you trust with yourself, the people you put your heart in their hands and say don't hurt it. It's the people you trust others with too. It's just the people you choose, you know? It's the people you find whose jagged edges might not fit with yours, but you find a way to coexist regardless. It's not about hurt but what comes after. It's about love and the choice you made. 
> 
> And wow, I really got off topic there, didn't I? But since I have spoken about soulmates and choices, just a quick shout out to my own soulmates. You four are some of the best people (and things) in my life right now, and I hope it remains that way. You've picked me up when I've felt like shattering on the ground and helped me from more breakdowns than I care to admit. You've been there for the best times and the worst and maybe it hasn't been a year, but I'd like to think we'll have this forever, you know? And that we'll fight for it always. 
> 
> THIS HAS NEVER BEEN A STORY ABOUT A BOY. Man I love that line. I don't really know why either. Maybe it's because it's not just about Toru but also about so much more? Yet it is, at the same time, just about a boy. I don't know. Where are the words where you want them? 
> 
> God, how many times have I written destroying ROOT? We should stop including that in the AUs. ROOT can just disappear. It's getting irritating trying to figure out how to take it down every time. 
> 
> In case you were wondering what was going through my head as I wrote this, my notes for myself at the end includes: "it's also about hope, about love, about rebirth" and apparently my brain was singing 'it's a sad song/but we sing it anyway' from Hadestown. 
> 
> In relation to Sasuke and Naruto with soulmates... Sasuke only makes soulmate ties when he's certain, because Itachi broke something and yet the soulmate marks (from his brother) are still on his skin. Meanwhile, Naruto is cautious because people look at him and hate him and so he takes time to form a connection, but it grows gradually.
> 
> Well that's all from me today, I hope you're all doing well. 
> 
> As always, you can find me over on [Tumblr](https://silent-silver-slip.tumblr.com/) with the tag for this series being The Sea Never Dies. You should also join us over on Discord where people keep making me write new AUs (of which this was one - I had not planned for this, and then someone hit me with it), the link is [here](https://discord.com/invite/DTbGtSc). We'd love to have you!


End file.
